


Hold Me Close, Don’t Let Go, Watch Me Burn

by Branithar



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Dehumanization, M/M, Possession, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:13:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28429845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branithar/pseuds/Branithar
Summary: Certain humans are born hosting inhuman passengers. These passengers can share dangerous, unnatural abilities with their hosts, or even take over the hosts’ minds to reveal their true forms, usually with extreme violence as their goal. Hosts are legally obligated to commit themselves to specialist hospitals for treatment upon discovery of their passengers. Hosts who fail to do so will face legal repercussions.Thank you for your cooperation.
Relationships: Luke Hemmings/Zayn Malik, Michael Clifford/Harry Styles, Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford/Luke Hemmings/Calum Hood/Ashton Irwin
Kudos: 4





	1. Upon discovery of a passenger, a host should remain calm, isolate themself and call emergency services.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Hospital For Souls by Bring Me The Horizon.

“Michael?” Luke crawled over to him, cringing when he put his hand in blood. It was unavoidable, the bitumen was soaked with it. “Michael.” 

Michael groaned softly, but didn’t get up. 

Luke pushed him onto his back and searched for wounds, but as tattered as his clothes were, the blood made it hard to tell what needed attention. Harry should have healed most of the damage, but it had been a rough fight. 

“ _Shit._ ” 

A deeper cut in his chest was still bleeding. 

“‘M okay,” Michael breathed, “Just tired.”

“We gotta get out of here,” Luke urged. 

“Hands on your head,” someone demanded. 

Luke’s stomach dropped as he looked up at the trapper pointing a gun at his head. “He’s hurt-”

“ _On your head!_ ” 

Luke obeyed, heart hammering in his ears as the trapper’s partner approached with a pair of handcuffs. He cuffed Luke’s hands behind his back and waited for a beep. 

“That’s one confirmed host.”

“You too,” the trapper with the gun told Michael.

“He can’t, he’s hurt.” 

“ _Shut up,_ ” the trapper behind Luke spat, jamming a taser into his ribs. 

Every muscle in Luke’s body clenched at once, pain shooting through him like a swarm of locusts. Vaguely, he was aware of hitting the ground, but the fire crawling under his skin held all of his attention. 

As suddenly as it began, the pain disappeared and Luke’s body relaxed. Something was writhing in the back of his mind, angrier than Luke had ever felt it before but unable to push to the front and take over. 

“You reckon this one’s clean?” 

Luke opened his eyes, but they wouldn’t focus at first. The trapper that had tasered him turned Michael onto his front and cuffed him, hand lingering on his ass. 

“Haven’t had fun with one of these in a while,” he murmured, “Humans just don’t do it for you like hosts do, you know?” 

“These ones are going to the CPP,” the other trapper said, holstering his gun, “They don’t like ‘em coming in damaged. They’ll file reports and shit.” 

“They won’t know it was us,” the trapper with the taser reasoned, kneeing Michael’s legs apart, “Maybe it was like that when we found it.” 

“ _Leave him alone!_ ” Luke shouted, shuffling to get closer to Michael, “I’ll do it, I’ll let you if you help him.” 

The trapper laughed and stood. “Oh, you’ll _let me?_ ” He pressed a boot to Luke’s neck. “You could stop me if you wanted, could you?” 

“He’s bleeding, please-” 

The boot came off his neck and collided with his jaw, making him bite his tongue. He curled away from the trapper, into the remains of one of their attackers. They shouldn’t have taken this shortcut. He should have seen this coming. 

“ _Oi!_ Not its fucking _teeth,_ you dumbass!” 

The trapper scoffed. “Let’s just get them in the van. If the CPP don’t want them, we’re pulling over somewhere quiet for a few hours.” 

“Whatever. _Get up._ ” 

Someone gripped Luke’s upper arm and hauled him up, shoving him towards the alley entrance. He stumbled and looked back at Michael as the trappers lifted him off the ground and started dragging him along. 

“ _Keep walking._ ”

Luke spat blood on the ground and obeyed. 

Just outside the alley, the trappers’ van was waiting. Michael seemed to be somewhat conscious as they opened the back doors and shoved him in, but Luke couldn’t take much comfort in that as he eyed the wound on his chest.

“No funny business,” the trapper who’d kicked Luke warned as he set him down on the floor beside Michael, linking their cuffs to a metal bar running along the wall. He strapped a muzzle onto Luke’s face, then Michael’s, the other trapper closing the doors on them. 

Michael slumped against Luke as the engine started. 

“Mikey?” 

Michael didn’t respond. 

“Michael.” 

“Shut up.”

Luke looked at the trapper, then the floor. He knew of the Centre of Preternatural Parasitology. _All_ hosts probably did, they were one of the biggest organisations hunting them in the country. Nobody who got taken by the CPP ever escaped. 

“Luke,” Michael breathed, “Calm down.” 

Luke looked at him, realising that he’d started to hyperventilate. “Sorry.” He didn’t know how Michael wasn’t freaking out. Maybe he was just too tired and the reality of it hadn’t sunk in yet. “‘M sorry I couldn’t stop them, I didn’t hear them coming and-”

“I told you to _shut up!_ ” The trapper stood and pulled out his taser. 

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop, I didn’t-”

The trapper pressed the taser to Luke’s chest and held it there. Luke wanted to scream, but his body wouldn’t obey him, not until the trapper stopped and gave him a final kick to the stomach. 

Something in the back of Luke’s mind seethed.


	2. Dental anomalies can indicate the presence of a passenger. Report to a treatment centre for tests if you or your dentist find any.

Zayn pressed his lips to Luke’s hair, stroking his back with his fingertips. 

“Must’ve dozed off,” Luke mumbled, curling into his embrace. 

“You’re exhausted.” Zayn adjusted his hold to pull Luke onto his lap and kiss him. “I’m not complaining, though. Can’t say no to more of this.” 

Luke kissed him again before burying his face in his neck. He smelled like rain. “Wish we could stay here forever.” 

“Mikey might miss you.” 

Luke picked at a seam in the couch they were lying on. He’d spent countless days sitting here when he was younger, playing guitar and writing songs for Zayn. “Is he gonna be okay?” 

“Harry’ll get him right,” Zayn assured him, “He just needs to recharge.” 

“What’s gonna happen to us?” 

“Don’t worry about that now,” Zayn murmured, “I’m here. I’m always here for you.” 

But Luke could feel his tongue and jaw starting to ache, his vision shrinking and warping until, with a jolt, Zayn and the warm couch were gone and he was back in the cold van with the trappers, going god-knew-where. He’d fallen asleep with his cheek resting on Michael’s head, not for long, he thought, just long enough that the need to sleep properly was clawing at every inch of his body. 

Lifting his head, Luke started to ask Michael if he was okay, but thought better of it when he remembered the trapper’s taser. Michael grumbled at the loss of contact, so he settled down again, wondering if this could be the last time they’d ever see each other. 

“Almost there,” the driver called. 

“You hear that?” The trapper watching over them stood, pulling out his taser. “Wakey-wakey.” He gave Michael a jab, making him jump violently and hit Luke’s cheek with his head. 

“ _Stop,_ ” Luke pleaded, leaning as far as the handcuffs would allow to get between the trapper and Michael.

“You want some too?” 

Before Luke could react, the trapper tasered him again. The third time was only more bearable than the first two because it was briefer. 

“You’re gonna run out of battery,” the driver chided. 

“Like we’re gonna find any more tonight,” the other trapper replied, “Just catching two at once was more luck than we ever get.” He squatted down to eye Luke up. “We didn’t even get to fuck them. Fingers crossed the CPP only wants one of them. We can sell the other to someone with fairer standards. A hospital or something.” 

“Which one are you thinking?” 

The trapper leaned in close. “The annoying one, just ‘cause it keeps pissing me off.” 

Luke fixed his eyes on the ground. 

“It’s got a nice ass.” 

“You gay or something?” the trapper accused. 

“ _No._ I’m just saying it’s probably tight.” 

A rage that didn’t belong to Luke boiled in his mind, almost screaming to be let out, but it couldn’t quite take over Luke’s mind and body. As desperately as he wanted to surrender to it, all Luke could do was stare at his shoes, feeling sick and terrified. 

“Here we are.” 

The van slowed to halt and the engine cut out, the trapper that had been leering at Luke giving him one last jab with the taser before standing to open the doors. 

“Let’s have a look at them,” a new voice said. 

The trappers detached Luke and Michael from the metal bar and hauled them out, making no effort to be gentle. They were in some kind of warehouse, armed guards in dark combat gear striding around, examining newly delivered crates and shouting orders. 

“Muzzles off,” one of the guards in front of them ordered. 

The trappers unbuckled and yanked off the muzzles, making Luke’s jaw ache.

“Everyone here has a gun. Don’t try anything,” the guard warned Luke before stepping forward to pull his mouth open and shine a torch inside.

Luke squinted against the light. 

“Looks like a dreamer.” She let go of Luke’s jaw and moved on to Michael as the other guard tapped at the tablet he was holding. “This one looks half dead.” 

“They’d killed about six people by the time we got there,” a trapper told her, “One probably got a few lucky hits in.” 

The guard shone her torch into Michael’s mouth, looking disgusted about the dried blood around it. “Boar, but given the condition it’s in-”

“Boars are wanted,” the guard with the tablet piped up, “And they’re hardy. Wounds like that aren’t a big deal.” 

The other guard sighed. “Fine, we’ll process them both. No promises, though.” 

Once the trappers’ cuffs were off, replaced by what looked like lucidity bracelets, the guards led Luke and Michael away from the van and the trappers, towards a small door with a keypad. The room they entered was painfully sterile, people in lab coats staring as they were shepherded to a row of dental chairs and told to sit. 

“Names?” a dentist asked Luke as one of the guards strapped his wrists to the arm rests. 

Luke glanced at Michael and said nothing. 

“This will go easier for you if you cooperate,” the dentist said with a huff, “I just need your medical records.” 

Luke stared at his feet. If they found out who he was, they’d know who his family were. Sheltering rogue hosts wasn’t something the law took lightly, even if they tried to pretend they hadn’t known. 

“ _Fine._ Open up.” The dentists put a device in Luke’s mouth and cranked it open so he couldn’t bite down and started poking around with her tools. 

“They said this one’s a boar?” 

Luke’s dentist looked over at the one examining Michael. “What’s it look like?”

“Extra points behind all its teeth.”

“Talon cusps,” Luke’s dentist explained, “Extremely rare mutation in nature, but it’s somewhat common in hosts.” She scoffed. “These ones could have been found years ago if dental abnormalities legally had to be reported.” 

“What about your one?” Michael’s dentist came over to peer into Luke’s mouth while his prodded at some teeth. 

“At first glance, perfect teeth. Except for these extra canines.” 

The other dentist leaned in closer. 

“You wouldn’t even notice if you weren’t looking closely, these molars have fused to make room for them. This second set is slightly more pointed, though.” 

“Huh. Kinda like a dog.” 

“Mm. Dogs don’t grow their teeth back,” Luke’s dentist replied, “Anyway, unlike boars, dreamers’ teeth aren’t all that functional. They’re not as prone to violent outbursts and eating prey raw as other types.” 

“Can I get in there to grab fingerprints?” another doctor asked. 

Luke’s dentist shifted out of the way and he felt someone press one of his fingers to an inkpad. Others crowded around, shining lights in his eyes, taking his pulse, poking and prodding. 

When they were done, the thing in Luke’s mouth was removed and he and Michael were taken to be undressed, weighed, have various measurements taken, get stitched up, then redressed in paper-thin hospital gowns and muzzles so they couldn’t bite people. Luke found it weird that although his life was essentially over and he’d never see freedom again, he continued to live, to experience his sudden loss of humanity. Part of him just wished they’d get it over with and lobotomise him. 

“We’ll take them,” someone decided, “Send them to the kennels.” 

More guards escorted them outside, pushing Michael along whenever he started to lag. This late, there weren’t many other people around, though the paths between the buildings around them were well-lit by the lamps running along them. There was nowhere to hide, Luke thought. 

The “kennels” turned out to be some kind of communal living area for hosts, a huge warehouse with large windows. The double doors they came to opened into an open area with rows of beds as far as Luke could see in the darkness. The guards told Michael and Luke to see admin in the morning, then left them to find empty beds. 

“That’s it?” Luke wondered as they headed for a pair of beds by a window. They were tiny and didn’t have sheets or pillows, but everyone else had them so he hoped they’d be given some in the morning. 

Michael flopped down onto his bed, his feet easily hanging off the end. “Not sure why you’re complaining,” he grumbled. 

“I’m not, I just thought there’d be… When do they start torturing us, you know?”

“Tomorrow,” someone snapped, “Shut the fuck up.” 

Luke jumped and sheepishly sat as someone else giggled. Curling up as much as he could on the small space, he contemplated the people in the room. He’d never seen this many hosts in one place before and as disheartening as it was that the CPP had caught them all, Luke was glad he wasn’t alone. Whatever they did to him, at least the fear of never seeing Michael again was allayed for now.


	3. Dreamers create hallucinations and “visions” of what they say is the future to manipulate their hosts. The false realities created by dreamers must never be trusted.

Luke lifted his foot, frowning at the stickiness he felt. He was ankle-deep in _something,_ but in the darkness it was impossible to figure out what. 

“Zayn?”

“Right here.” 

Luke looked behind him, but couldn’t see Zayn. “What is this?”

“I dunno. I’m not doing this.”

Luke reached out and found Zayn’s bare chest, trailing his finger down his arm to find his hand. 

“There’s something there.”

Looking around, Luke noticed some kind of light in the distance. He and Zayn headed towards it, making out three people as they got nearer. The Maori man in the middle was covered in blood, though Luke couldn’t see any wounds. The men beside him were shorter than him, one blond and the other brunet. With a twist in his stomach, Luke realised that they were all standing in blood. 

“Who are they?” he whispered to Zayn. 

“Dunno.” 

The brunet brought a cigarette to the Maori man’s lips and the blond lit it. His dark eyes met Luke’s and he gave a sly smirk, light pulsing at the edges of Luke’s vision. Luke gripped Zayn’s hand tighter, but it melted away until Luke found himself clutching the edge of a mattress instead. 

“Dreams?” Michael guessed. 

Luke’s eyes drifted over his hospital gown and he slowly released the mattress, realising where they were with a sinking heart. 

“Another sex dream about Zayn?” he teased, as if they weren’t trapped in a CPP facility with no hope of ever getting out again. 

“Getting kidnapped doesn’t really put us in the mood,” Luke grumbled, sitting up. The hosts around them were chattering, making their beds and generally not acting as miserable as Luke would have expected. Unlike he and Michael, they weren’t in hospital gowns, though their clothes seemed to be made of the same papery material. 

“Wait.” Michael stared. _“Zayn_ gives you the sex dreams?”

“Well _yeah.”_ Luke scratched his neck, looking away. “Can’t really do it when I’m awake.” 

Michael gaped. “You guys actually _fuck?”_

 _“Shut up.”_

A few people gave them weird looks. 

“You’re gonna explain this to me,” Michael hissed slightly more quietly, “But what was it if it wasn’t a sexy dream, then?” 

“Vision, I think.”

“Of what?”

Luke shrugged. “Some guys. It was vague.”

“You _always_ say that.”

“They always _are.”_

“How come they can never be about anything useful?” Michael huffed, “Like how to get out of here.” 

“Can’t have visions of things that aren’t gonna happen.”

Michael frowned and looked at his feet. 

“Hey,” someone greeted, patting Luke’s shoulder, “You guys are new, right?”

Luke looked up at the stranger, jaw dropping. Zayn felt alert.

“They caught us last night,” Michael confirmed. 

The man nodded. “Come on. Breakfast.”

Luke didn’t get an opportunity to talk to Michael as the man led them to the mess hall. The man from his dream. Luke hoped it hadn’t been a warning about him and the other two, that they were somehow dangerous. Or, at least, dangerous by host standards. Zayn seemed to agree. 

“I’m Calum,” the man said, “My passenger’s Niall, he’s a distortionist. We’ve been here about two years.”

“I’m Michael. Harry’s my passenger.”

“Any idea what kind he is?”

“Kind?”

“Different types have different abilities,” Calum explained, “Like Niall can heal my body way faster than other passengers can.”

“I think that’s what they were talking about last night,” Luke remembered, “When they said I was a dreamer and you were a boar.”

“Your passenger’s a _boar?”_ Calum stared at Michael. “How did they catch you without him ripping them to shreds?”

“We got attacked on the way home,” Michael told him, “It was... bad. Trappers showed up after the fight.” 

Calum nodded somberly, then looked at Luke. “Yours is a dreamer?”

“Zayn. And I’m Luke.”

“Does he normally appear in front of you? When he wants to talk to you?”

Luke nodded, surprised. “I can’t see him now, though.” He hadn’t seen Zayn since last night. 

Calum nodded. “It’s the lucidity bracelet.”

“I thought they just stopped passengers taking the wheel. Does that mean I can only talk to him in dreams now?” 

“I guess that’s what they were made to do, but they can suppress other abilities. Can you still hear his voice? Like he’s thinking at you?”

Luke shook his head, frowning. “I can kinda feel him, but… He’s never talked to me like that.”

“Maybe he can learn.”

Luke had to admit that he was surprised by the openness of the facility. He’d expected to be kept in an underground cell, never to see Michael again as researchers tortured and experimented on them, but hosts seemed free to walk around here. 

“Yeah, well everyone knows what happens if you don’t make it somewhere on time,” Calum told them when Luke voiced his thoughts, “And there are guards and cameras _everywhere._ They don’t need to keep us on leashes.” 

“What happens?” Michael asked. 

Calum frowned at the ground, but didn’t reply. 

Breakfast was about what Luke would have expected; they were served some kind of stew with a small bread roll each, and as tasteless as the meal was Calum seemed delighted by it. 

“Man, this is gonna be your favourite meal in a year,” he promised them, “Food here doesn’t get much better than this.”

“Lotta cameras in here,” Michael observed. The ceiling was covered in them and Luke wondered how anyone could be watching every single one. “They really are everywhere.”

“I mean it,” Calum told them, “Seriously, I hope you’re not shy about shitting for an audience.”

Michael grimaced. “Is that even legal?”

“If you’re not peeping on humans.” 

_”We’re_ humans,” Luke argued. 

Calum smiled wryly. “Not here.”

A voice crackled over the PA system, telling newcomers to report to Warehouse 3.

“That’s you guys,” Calum told them, “Come on, I’ll show you where to go.” 

Warehouse 3 wasn’t so bad. There weren’t any doctors, just a few people with clothes, bedding and new lucidity bracelets for Luke and Michael, and they didn’t seem bothered by Calum’s presence. 

“You will be responsible for keeping these clean,” a lady informed them, “Your bracelets will alert you when you have appointments, if you don’t make it to them on time, disciplinary action will be taken.”

Michael scoffed. “What is this, high school?” He and Luke had heard that term many times. Honestly, it was genuinely shocking that they made it through school at all. 

Once they’d taken their things back to the kennels, officially known as Warehouse 5, Calum showed them around the facility a bit. Hosts were free to walk around outside, he said, as long as they weren’t breaking things or hurting people. 

“Some guards are bitchy,” he warned as they approached a shed, “But a lot don’t really care what you do as long as you’re getting to appointments on time and not trying to escape.” He jiggled the doorknob at the side of the shed and opened it. “This is the fuck closet. Lock’s broken and there aren’t any cameras inside, so people come here to fuck sometimes.” 

“People call it the fuck closet?” Luke questioned.

Calum smirked, eyeing him up and down. “The people who know about it do.” His bracelet beeped and he frowned at it. “I gotta go,” he told them, “See ya.” 

“When’s lunch?” Michael called as he walked away.

“One!” Calum called back. 

_“Michael,”_ Luke hissed as they watched him go. 

“Hm?”

“He was in my dream.” 

Michael started walking back towards the kennels. “Who?”

“Calum.”

Michael looked back at him, eyes wide. “So it _was_ a sexy dream.”

Luke punched his arm. “He was covered in blood.”

“Sounds hot.” 

“I don’t know what it means. What if it’s bad?”

“How bad can it be?” Michael glared at a security camera as they passed it. “The CPP has us.”

**Author's Note:**

> I run tran5rightsos on Tumblr! Feel free to send asks about this or any of my other 5sos fics!


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